NTDs get major news attention in the January 2010 issue of Scientific American Magazine.  The issue features an article titled “How to Cure 1 Billion People—Defeat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)” by our very own Peter Hotez, detailing the disease burden of NTDs around the world, and the simple, cost effective solutions available for their prevention and control.  The article is an informative teaching tool for those unfamiliar with NTDs and also presents a clear call to action: now is the time to act to end the neglect of NTDs. Now, more than ever, the global health community is positioned to tackle NTDs. However, Hotez argues that despite enormous successes with mass drug administration programs and increased awareness and funding, we still have a long way to go to provide complete drug coverage for the billion or more people with NTDs.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

“In the north of Burkina Faso, not far to the east of one of the best-known backpacker destinations in West Africa, the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali, lies the town of Koumbri. It was one of the places where the Burkina Ministry of Health began a mass campaign five years ago to treat parasitic worms. One of the beneficiaries, Aboubacar, then an eight-year-old boy, told health workers he felt perpetually tired and ill and had noticed blood in his urine. After taking a few pills, he felt better, started to play soccer again, and began focusing on his schoolwork and doing better academically.”

“The Burkina Faso program, which treated more than two million children, was both a success story and an emblem of the tragedy of disease in the developing world. For want of very simple treatments, a billion people in the world wake up every day of their lives feeling sick. As a result they cannot learn in school or work effectively.”

Visit our website to read the full article or pick up your own copy when it hits newsstands in January.